Cate Blanchett drew a lot attention this past week when, during her Oscar acceptance speech, she called out the ‘powers that be’ for their hesitance to promote and encourage the production of films that have women in central roles. The box office returns for 2013 back her up. According to Time.com, in 2013, movies featuring strong female characters actually were a financial boon to the industry. The basis for determining this phenomenon used the now infamous Bechdel Test. Created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel in 1985, it is a ‘sniff test’ of sorts that asks a work of fiction:

1. to have at least two [named] women in it,

2. who talk to each other,

3. about something besides a man.

(Source: bechdeltest.com)

I encourage you to go to the website (http://bechdeltest.com/) to see if (any) of your favorite films pass. The best part of this Time.com piece is the infographic which shows in unquestionable detail Hollywood’s hits and misses for 2013 and the correlation to the presence of female lead(s) (Source: Vocativ).

Some Movie Recommendations

It would be remiss of me to close out this post without offering up some suggestions for films featuring a strong women in the narrative. After drafting my preliminary list, I ran all of the films through the Bechdel; unfortunately, some of my favorites did not make the cut, either they are not in the database or they really did not meet the minimum criteria. Note, an asterisk (*) indicates that the film was directed by a female.

* Strange Days (1995): directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Angela Bassett, Strange Days is a pulse-pounding actioner that remains a personal favorite of mine (but it just passes).

All About Eve (1950): Backstage drama on the Great White Way. Margo (Bette Davis) and Eve (Ann Baxter) are formidable sparring partners.

Alien (1979): Ripley! Sigourney Weaver became a hero for a generation of young women.

The Color Purple (1985): While this film is a beautiful and sweeping epic I know it also courts controversy in many corners with its depiction of the male (emasculated?) and female (wanton?) characters. But for me, it has an emotional resonance because it is one of the few moments in my life I have accompanied my mother to the cinema.

Children of Men(2006): Nothing stronger than being the carrier of the future of human civilization.

* Pariah (2011): Embarrassingly this has been in my queue for a minute and is the only entry that I am recommending sight-unseen.

A Room With a View (1985): This film is simply sublime for me.

G.I. Jane (1997): Just ‘cuz.

Heavenly Creatures(1994): The picture that gave us the gift of Kate Winslet’s presence on our screens. Based on a true story.

* Daughters of the Dust (1991): I need to rewatch this it has been a while.

Never Let Me Go (2010): This one fell under so many radars, it deserved a lot of recognition than it received. Haunting and beautiful.

Jane Eyre (2006/2011): Take your pick as to the version; Jane is boss.

Before I dive into my topic/rant, I would like to send a big shout out to my colleagues Aurora (Once Upon a Screen), Paula (Paula’s Cinema Club) and Kellee (Outspoken & Freckled), who put this wonderful blogging meme together. Be sure to check out their sites to see all the other Oscar-related content bloggers around the world have posted.

The Oscar Jinx – the Origins

Jinx or curse, whatever – you get the idea. It is a theory as old as the actual awards ceremony themselves – the idea being that upon winning an Academy Award in an acting category, the winner finds themselves on the wrong side of Lady Luck – the offers dry up and they end up in a career paralysis, or simply fade into obscurity.

The first time I had ever heard of such a ‘curse’ was when I heard my dad and brother discussing the career of Louis Gossett Junior, following his win for An Officer and a Gentleman and how it ended up not really doing anything of consequence for his career (there was Enemy Mine, however). In subsequent years, as my passion for cinema grew, I discovered a few more instances of the famed curse, especially how ‘the curse’ impacted one of my favorite actresses Joan Fontaine who after her win in 1942 for Suspicion,said the only thing she gained from bringing home the gold was to be typecast as a “simp” (her words folks, not mine).

A little digging around the web unveiled a lot of interesting featured articles where the writer investigates this ‘phenomenon.’ You are forewarned: the various lists have many repeat customers:

Another observation you may have made is that there sure is a LOT of female representation on this list. This observation, unfortunately, leads to my next topic of discussion, the Oscar “Love” curse.

Subcategory: The Oscar “Love” Curse

More recently this curse has created a (more personal) subset of those affected – the Oscar Love curse, whereby love-struck members of the fairer sex (females) are afflicted with relationship woes post their awards triumph. According to “the Wikipedia” – which sourced the lists below – this is real, folks; just take a look at some of the winners (past and present) who apparently have been (un)ceremoniously dumped by their significant others upon winning Oscar:

Joanne Woodward (1958 The Three Faces of Eve) and husband Paul Newman were married on January 29, 1958, prior to the March 26th Oscar ceremony and remained so, until Newman’s death in 2008.

Sophia Loren (1962 Two Women) and husband Carlo Ponti were married on September 17, 1957. However, the 1962 annulment of their marriage was for legal, rather than personal reasons. Loren and Ponti were formally married on April 9, 1966 and remained so, until Ponti’s death in 2007.

Jessica Tandy (1990 Driving Miss Daisy) and husband Hume Cronyn were married on September 27, 1942 and remained so, until Tandy’s death in 1994.

Best Supporting Actress

Maggie Smith (1979 California Suite) and husband Beverley Cross were married on August 23, 1975 and remained so, until Cross’s death in 1998.

Judi Dench (1999 Shakespeare in Love) and husband Michael Williams were married on February 5, 1971 and remained so, until Williams’ death in 2001.

Side note: Dame Maggie made BOTH lists – BOOM!

Side, side note: my simple observation is that with some of these actresses, notably for the aforementioned Dame Maggie and member of her cohort Dame Judi Dench, their respective wins gave them a “second career” of sorts and they are more popular than ever. This observation in of itself should be an indication of what my final conclusion will be (see below).

So With All of this Evidence, Does the “Curse” Hold Water?

In this blogger’s humble opinion, the answer is: maybe kinda sorta – but maybe not really. WHAT ON EARTH DO I MEAN? My reasoning is quite simple really. YES winning such a prestigious award will change your life – for better or worse, but like with many things in life, it is a combination of preparation, effective decision making and sheer luck that determines the ultimate outcome. Now, that is not to say that ripe acting opportunities are limited. So while the Oscar may get you in the door, it is not a sure-fire ticket to continued success.

Also if you are fortunate enough to win, there is an added pressure to find a vehicle that potentially can match the acclaim of that winning performance. Granted, some folks are lucky enough and lightning WILL strike more than once (see above); but really that is more the exception, not the rule. If anything, the winning performance by an actor is more so an indication of them being the top of their game, the peak of their powers – and as the phrase goes it is all downhill from here in most cases. So sad, but so true.

As it pertains to the “love” curse I suppose especially for those folks whose partner is also in the business there is the chance that a little professional rivalry and/or jealousy exists and will precipitate hurt feelings and such. But seriously, looking at some of these entries on Wikipedia are a bit of a stretch given that in some cases, the relationship ended YEARS after the actress won the statue. In other words, I am calling BUNK on this part of the theory.

In the end, I say take the Oscar and hope for the best …

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But that is just me and my humble opinion; I could probably spend another 1000 words trying to debunk this further, but my fingers are tired.

Now is your turn; how about you? What do you think? Is the Oscar curse, be it professional OR personal something real?

I have made it no secret – in recent years, I have developed an ambivalence towards awards shows of all kind (not just the film and TV ones). That said, I still do have a level of curiosity of who the winners are.

In TV Land, I would like to congratulate two of my favorite actors – Idris Elba and Kate Winslet for their wins (Castor – do I get HFL points for Elba?).

Here is the list of winners in all the film categories:

Category

Winner

Best Motion Picture – Drama

The Descendants

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

The Artist

Best Director – Motion Picture

Martin Scorcese, Hugo

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Foreign Language Film

A Separation (Iran)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry, Masterpiece from the film W.E.

Best Original Score

Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Cecil B. DeMille Award (Lifetime Achievement)

Morgan Freeman

I would feel horrible if I gave an analysis on this list of winners for two reasons (1) what is considered ‘the best’ is obviously subjective (but I guess that is why consensus votes are all about) and (2) I have not seen all the films nominated so I clearly cannot give my personal take whether or not someone was “robbed” or not.

You know how this next part goes; tell me:

Did you watch the ceremony? Even if you didn’t, let me know what you think about the winners.